Just a few hours before the closing of its Indiegogo campaign, Don Cheadle’s “Miles Ahead” reached its goal of raising $325,000 with the support of over 2,000 backers.
As previously reported, the “Iron Man 3″ star decided to launch the crowdfunding campaign for the feature film that will focus on a few famous days and events in the life of Miles Davis, American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader and composer. Mr. Cheadle will take on the role of Mr. Davis.
The film is being produced independent of any major studios, so every dollar raised by this campaign will be going directly towards the budget. “Miles Ahead” has been in development since 2008 and has had multiple changes over the years, including the location, crew and timelines. The casting will also include “Star Wars” actor Ewan McGregor.
Explaining the reasoning behind the film, Mr. Cheadle wrote, “Music has always been one of my passions. Since 6th grade, when I started listening to my parents’ Miles Davis records, his artistry has been an inspiration to me; he was someone who only ever followed a path as a runway to create a new one.”
He continued, “Surprisingly, Miles’ life, his passion, his creativity, his fire have never been brought to life in a film and the fact that his family has chosen me to do this now is an honor. I want to tell a story that Miles himself would have wanted to see, something hip, cool, alive and AHEAD.”
Also noting that the main topic isn’t exactly about Mr. Davis’ talents, Mr. Cheadle added, “‘MILES AHEAD’ is not just about the music. It’s about what we all face at one time or another in our lives; questions about who we really are, what we have to say and how will we say it. How will we ultimately be defined and who gets to say so?
Miles Ahead 1Speaking on behalf of the family, Miles Davis’ nephew Vince Wilburn noted, “Don’s vision and his unwavering passion will undoubtedly serve this project to the highest standard and we are beyond thrilled to have him on board.”
Mr. Cheadle will be producing “Miles Away” through his own Crescendo Productions. He will work with Daniel Wagner, Robert Ogden Barnum, Darryl Porter, Lenore Zeman, Pam Hirsch and Mr. Wilburn on behalf of the Davis estate.
Sony Pictures Classics Nabs Don Cheadle’s Miles Ahead
BY SILAS LESNICK ON AUGUST 5, 2015
Miles Ahead stars Don Cheadle as Miles Davis and also marks the directorial debut of the Academy Award nominated actor
Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired worldwide* rights to Don Cheadle’s directorial debut, Miles Ahead. Miles Ahead tells the story of a few lost days in the life of Miles Davis (Cheadle), the virtuoso, fighter and genius, as he bursts out of his silent period, conspires with a Rolling Stone writer (Ewan McGregor) to steal back his music, and relives the years he had with his great love, Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi).
Written by Steven Baigelman and Cheadle, Miles Ahead also stars Michael Stuhlbarg, and Keith Stanfield. Cheadle, Lenore Zerman, Pamela Hirsch, Daniel Wagner, Robert Ogden Barnum, Darryl Porter and Vince Wilburn, Jr. produced the film. Mark Amin, Baigelman, Jonathan Gardner and Brian Pope executive produced. Davis’ son, Erin Davis, and daughter, Cheryl Davis, are also executive producers, and the film was made with the participation of The Miles Davis Estate. The film was financed by BiFrost Pictures.
“Miles was many things…a supreme artist and a national treasure but also an enigma to those around him, especially during his so-called quiet period,” says Cheadle. “With the family’s blessing and Miles’ tenets on creativity as our guide, we used these cloistered years as a jumping off point to compose the story of a self-exiled artist creating his own ‘centrifugal adventure’ to spin himself back into playing music again. And now I’m delighted that we’ve found the perfect partners in Michael, Tom and the SPC team to take this journey with us.”
“What Don Cheadle has done here with the spirit of Miles Davis is truly astounding,” adds a statement from Sony Pictures Classics. “We are not only witnessing for the first time this part of Miles Davis’ story as it deserves to be told, but also the birth of a major film director who happens to portray the iconic singer in a jaw dropping performance. This movie will be embraced by audiences everywhere and we are so pleased to help make that happen.”
Miles Ahead was recently announced as this year’s Closing Night selection for the 53rd New York Film Festival.
Cheadle is great in the movie, but it is kinda a mess. Goes for an unconventional biopic narrative (the closest I can think for its style is Wild, but even that doesn't really match it), and I get what Cheadle was going for as a director, but I don't think he always made the best decisions.
Also disappointed how little of Davis's music is used. Still, I think with performances, strong period detail, and some story choices which do pay-off, fans of Davis probably have enough to interest them, won't be one of the huge music biopic successes though.
Cheadle is great in the movie, but it is kinda a mess. Goes for an unconventional biopic narrative (the closest I can think for its style is Wild, but even that doesn't really match it), and I get what Cheadle was going for as a director, but I don't think he always made the best decisions.
Also disappointed how little of Davis's music is used. Still, I think with performances, strong period detail, and some story choices which do pay-off, fans of Davis probably have enough to interest them, won't be one of the huge music biopic successes though.
Thanks for your thoughts. I was wondering about how much of the music would be able to be used in the film. That was a huge hurdle for the Hendrix film from a few years back. Regardless, I'm such a MD fan that I don't even care, I just wanna see it.
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